External Cam behaving very strangely

[Stargazer]

Hi,

I'm experiencing a bug with SH3+GWX and it is a bit weird.

When I select the external camera, instead of getting an shot of the sub or the ship that's trying to hunt me, the camera seems to sway violently up and down, left to right...

Dupping under the water, flying into the air, back down, back up... It seems to have very little bearing on where my sub is or how deep, but just veers around without actually showing me what I want to see.

I thought at first I had a sticky button on the keyboard but I can confirm this is not the case. Not only because I have gone through tapping buttons to check for stickies, but also because the motion is not consistent with just one key press.

There's also the fact that restarting the game seems to fix it but with loading times as high as they are, I don't see that as a viable solution.

Has anyone else seen this behaviour?

If you have, did you ever fix it?

How?

Cheers,

Rob.

[Gargamel]

Do you have the scope/image/camera stablization option set in the realism menu?

Sounds like it's turned off the stabilization for that camera, and it shouldn't, so camera, now many meters away, is swaying like it's attached to a boom from the boat.


As for a fix, I have no idea. There may be a .cfg you can edit, but i have no clue. Try toggling that option a few times and load it both ways, checked and unchecked. that may reset whatever is in error.

[frau kaleun]

I ran into an issue with the external cam once where I'd been doing a lot of scanning around of the activity on the surface and holding down the keys to make it keep moving all over. It got "stuck" in spin mode, lol, and even when I released the keys it just kept going 'round and 'round and no amount of tapping other keys would make it stop.

Someone suggested dropping the game to the taskbar, which I can do with Alt+Tab or by hitting the Windows button (next to Ctrl) that brings up the Start menu. Doing that then bringing the game back up again cured whatever was ailing the camera.

Don't know if it will work for your situation, and not everybody can get the game to minimize like that. But if all else fails it's worth a try.

[reignofdeath]

I have had mine get stuck before in like a super dive downards because Ill go to free cam alot then dip below the water holding shift (To get down with speed) and when Ill let go, it will think Im still holding it and it will hold it down. I can usually fix it though within 10 or 15 seconds.

[Weiss Pinguin]

Yeah usually I just smash the keys a couple of times and it fixes. Don't think I've heard of this before though.

[ediko]

Do you have a joystick plugged in? I have a friend who complained to me about a game camera spinning around even when he didn't press any buttons. Turned out it was his joystick's thruster.

[Stargazer]

Riii-iiii-iight...

Not a clear cut problem then.

I'll try the minimise thing. I've been able to get other games to drop into the taskbar without adverse effects so hopefully SH3 won't fight me either. I'll report back if it works for me tonight once I'm back at home (sea) and if the camera fouls up again.

Mashing the keyboard doesn't work. Though I should admit that I didn;t actually mash the keyboard, I just firmly tapped all the camera control buttons that I know about several times, and checked for debris in the keyboard that might cause a sticky reaction.

I too have had the camera get stuck in fast-dive mode and I've had to give my shift buttons some repeated tapping to try and get it to stop. Whether it worked or not I have no idea since I end up trapped in the command room and not using any of the cinematic cams.

Game controllers: I have two flight yokes and a wheel&pedals. None of them are plugged in. I only attach them to be used in applications that ask for them, otherwise they stay disconnected. I wish it could have been as easy as that, but alas, my problem lies elsewhere.

I'm not even sure what triggers it. Maybe a key press it forgets to register as ended after one of the frequent little pauses that SH3 does. Maybe just a bug in the code, who knows. As soon as I have a chance to test this again, I'll report back.

And if minimising doesn't work, I'll sprinkle some catnip on my keyboard and set the cats loose on it. That'll be some serious keyboard mashing that even SH3 will have to acknowledge.

Cheers,

Rob.

[Weiss Pinguin]

If you use any mods, maybe you could put up a list. One or two mods might conflicting or screwing up the camera-related files :hmmm:

[Stargazer]

Okey doke...

Minimising to desktop and then restoring the application window did not reset the camera back to normal.

Here's a screenshot of what I see when I press the external cam button. Sometimes it just sort of wavers on the spot, sometimes it dives and climbs wildly.

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x275/wheatleyswheels/shot1302813361.jpg

And here is a list of all my activated mods.

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x275/wheatleyswheels/SH3ModList.jpg

I'm a bit worried this is SH3's way of telling me to vamp the realism up a notch, but I do like my cinematic cams quite a lot and really would rather not needing to give them up.

[Stargazer]

It gets weirder...

I've just had the camera fail again, exactly the same way it has been, I've just thought to mention that despite I'm the only ship/boat/vessel/whatever in range, it still seems to flip through a number of different angles.

Also, I don't know if this is related to the problem, but I'm now only running on my left engine. I've tried going to All Stop, Ahead Flank, Back Full, electrics, diesels... I just can't get the right engine to engage. (Apparently, F12 cam still works fine, only the ship cam doesn't).

As far as I know, there is no engine select in SH3, or is there and SH3 is registrering a stuck button somewhere?

Would really apprecfiate some advice on this.

Thanks in advance,

Rob.

[Stargazer]

A little further explanation on the Engine thing...

I do not have malfunctions/Sabotage enabled.
I am not fuel limited.
I have not taken any damage of any kind.


I've decided to sit still while I try and work this out.
I'm in the conning tower and the RPM for the functioning port engine is at 0.
The starboard engine is reading somewhere between 500-600rpm forwards.

No matter what speed I select, forwards or backwards, port behaves mornally, but starboard remians at it's 500-600rpm on the guage but never spins the prop.

[Gargamel]

Do you have windows sticky keys enabled?

Check the mouse for hairs, that can cause rogue movements. (probably not it though)

[Kaleun Cook]

AFAIK this can happen if you switch to the external camera while you are near land units. And if it happens then it doesn't go away for the rest of the patrol. Try activating the camera for the first time after you have gained some distance to the port next time. Hope this helps!

edit2: see this thread: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=100142&highlight=external

edit1:

No matter what speed I select, forwards or backwards, port behaves mornally, but starboard remians at it's 500-600rpm on the guage but never spins the prop. Did you dive earlier? Because AFAIK one engine will be used to recharge the batteries afterwards, so both propellers should rotate again after that's done.